The physical and emotional benefits of exercise are well known. However, as a result of increasingly demanding schedules, many people are not able to engage in regular exercise to the extent recommended by health care professionals.
In an effort to increase fitness, many workers incorporate exercise into their workday. This is advantageous not only to the employee but also to the employer, as healthy workers maximize productivity and minimize expenses related to the worker's health, such as insurance costs.
For workers with jobs that necessitate physical activity, exercising during the workday does not present a challenge. Conversely, for workers confined to working in a seated position, often at a desk and accompanying chair, exercising while working is significantly more difficult. Indeed, for many people, the majority of the day is habitually spent in a seated position at a desk in an office or home environment. Sitting in one position for long periods of time, termed postural fixity, can cause static loading of the musculoskeletal system, resulting in or exacerbating back, neck, shoulder and other body pain.
To combat postural fixity and other problems associated with sitting at a desk for extended periods of time, exercise apparatuses have been developed for use in the workplace. However, conventional devices may be ill-suited for both performing desk-related tasks, such as computing, reading, writing, and similar activities, and exercising, primarily because the dimensions of conventional devices may preclude effective use when positioned beneath a desk or similar fixture. Complications may arise with the use of conventional devices including but not limited to collisions between the user and the underneath surface of the desk and undesirable movement of the device in relation to the support surface. Thus, there remains a need for an exercise apparatus that can be effectively used by a user in seated relation to a desk or similar fixture.